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儿童英语读物 The Ghost Ship Mystery CHAPTER 5 A Parrot with a Secret

时间:2017-08-03 08:29来源:互联网 提供网友:qing   字体: [ ]
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The Aldens made their way slowly past the quaint1 shops that lined the cobblestone streets of Ragged2 Cove3. They headed to a big white captain’s house with a huge black ship’s anchor planted in front.

“Looks like this is it,” Henry said when he saw the sign for the Sailors’ Museum. “Not exactly busy.”

“Not exactly open, either,” Jessie said.

She stepped up to the door and rapped on the brass4 door knocker. While the children waited for someone to open up, Benny peeked5 in the window by the door.

“There’s somebody inside. A lady with gray hair, I think. She’s just standing6 there,” Benny told Jessie. “Knock again.”

Jessie did. She rapped nearly a dozen times before the door opened just a crack.

“No children allowed without an adult,” an old voice said from the inside.

This didn’t stop Jessie Alden. “But . . . the sign here says the adult can be fourteen or over. Our brother Henry is fourteen.”

Benny scooted by Jessie and looked up at the woman. “We know about your great-grandfather and his boat, the Flying Cloud. And we saw your great-grandmother’s gravestone. And Jessie read us a story about your family.”

A tiny smile passed over the woman’s face.

Benny took a deep breath. “We like whales and boats, and Violet knows how to paint pictures of the ocean. And Henry can carve anything, even a whale tooth. If we ever find one.”

The door opened a few more inches. “Well, I don’t know. Most children come in here and go out disappointed. I have nothing here but old things, not even a gift shop.”

“We make our own gifts,” Violet said proudly. “But maybe we can get some ideas from your museum.”

The woman liked Violet’s idea very much. She waved the children inside.

Henry spoke8 first. “We’re the Aldens, Miss Coffin9. We’re staying at the Black Dog Inn with our grandfather. The Peases told us about you. This is Jessie and Violet and Benny, and I’m Henry.”

The woman seemed curious and turned to Jessie. “I see. Tell me how you happened to be reading my book, young lady.”

“Well, first I read a story called ‘Watery Grave: The Wreck10 of the Flying Cloud.’ ”

The woman stiffened11 and looked angry. “That! I thought you meant the true history I wrote. That other story is just a lot of lies and gossip!”

Jessie wasn’t quite sure what to say next. She didn’t want to upset Miss Coffin. “Oh, but then Mrs. Pease gave me your book, and I read some of it last night. It’s so sad.”

Miss Coffin got a faraway look. “Yes, it is a sad story. So many died, so close to home. But there’s something worse than that.”

“What could be worse?” Violet asked.

“Humph,” the woman began. “What’s worse is what caused the tragedy of the Flying Cloud. There was an attempted . . . well, never mind.”

“Mutiny?” Benny asked, proud to show off his new word.

“Yes, but it was just that crazy Eli Hull12,” Miss Coffin said. “Why, my great-grandfather was one of the most beloved sea captains in these parts. He treated his crew like his own family. Anybody who knows anything knows that! His crew would never have turned against him.”

“Of course not,” Violet said softly. She was reading the sign on a glass cabinet filled with carvings14. “Anybody can see that Captain Coffin’s crew loved him. Look at all this scrimshaw his sailors carved for him. Were all these pieces in your family, Miss Coffin?”

Violet’s question perked15 up Miss Coffin right away. “Why yes—yes, they were. You see the crew made these carvings for my great-grandfather to give to his wife and children. Aren’t they the prettiest things? Here, let me unlock the cabinet so you can see how clever these carvings really are.”

Miss Coffin fished into her pocket and pulled out the key to the cabinet. “Which piece would you like to look at first?” she asked Violet.

Violet pointed7 to a whale tooth about six inches tall. On it was a parrot carving13 that was colored in with blue ink. “That one.”

“That’s my favorite, too,” Miss Coffin said. “It’s a picture of Gabby, the pet parrot my great-grandfather rescued on a voyage to South America. Its wing was broken, and he nursed the bird back to health. Gabby traveled on many of my great-grandfather’s voyages.”

Violet and Benny looked upset, remembering what had happened to his last voyage.

“There, there,” Miss Coffin said, “believe it or not, we think somebody freed Gabby from his cage right before the Flying Cloud went up in flames. Gabby flew right back to my great-grandparents’ house. And, believe it or not, I remember Gabby myself. He lived a long, long time after my great-grandparents died. We think Gabby was nearly sixty years old when he died of old age.”

Benny was amazed. “Sixty! That’s almost as old as our grandfather.”

“Did Gabby talk?” Jessie asked.

“Did he talk? Why he never stopped talking!” Miss Coffin answered proudly. “He said: ‘Cap Coff, Cap Coff’ over and over every day until he died. He meant Captain Coffin, of course, my great-grandfather. Anyway, one of my great-grandfather’s crew carved this piece of scrimshaw in happier days, when the Flying Cloud was the most successful whaling ship in these parts.”

“Did the parrot know how to say anything else?” Benny asked. He was still amazed that parrots lived such a long time.

“‘Hardtack, hardtack’ was something else he was always shrieking16. Do you children know what hardtack is?”

Jessie smiled. “I do. It’s dried, hard-baked bread that sailors took on long voyages. Dried bread kept better and didn’t get full of mold.”

“Good for you, young lady,” Miss Coffin said. “The crew would put pieces of hardtack in soup or tea. Gabby just loved hardtack.”

Benny said, “I bet Bennycakes are better. That’s what Miss Pease calls johnnycakes, because I eat so many!”

This seemed to please Miss Coffin very much. “Those are my favorites, too.”

The children walked around the small museum and admired the ships’ models, paintings, and the many gadgets17 from whaling ships. They stopped before a display case of old photographs.

Miss Coffin pointed to a picture of a little girl standing with some older people. Off to the side was a cage with a parrot.

“That’s me with my grandparents,” Miss Coffin said. “And there’s Gabby himself. You know, I do have something you children would like.”

Miss Coffin went to a bookcase. She pulled out a children’s book called Gabby, the Parrot Who Couldn’t Stop Talking.

“Benny, Violet, take this as a present. It’s out of print now. We used to sell it in the museum,” Miss Coffin said. “I wrote it many years ago when children wanted to know about the great days of the Flying Cloud.”

Benny and Violet looked through the little book. They stopped at a page near the end that listed all the words Gabby knew how to say. “What did ‘capsick, capsick’ mean?”

Miss Coffin shook her head. “My family never figured that one out. Drove us crazy with that word. My great-grandfather was never sick a day in his life, certainly not seasick18.”

“I hope I’m like Captain Coffin,” Benny said, “and that I don’t get seasick when we go out whale watching.”

Miss Coffin’s blue eyes darkened. “Whale watching? When are you going to do that?”

Benny didn’t like the way Miss Coffin was looking at him now. Something about whale watching seemed to upset the old woman.

“We . . . we don’t know,” Jessie said before Benny said anything else. “We’re hoping Captain Bob will take us out on the Jonah in the next few days. We are interested in whales and how they live and how to save them.”

“Humph,” Miss Coffin said. “Well, you don’t need to go on that man’s boat to find out about whales. Everything you could ever want to know about them is in this library.” She stopped. “And it’s a much safer way to learn than getting on a boat with that . . . that careless captain. Captain indeed!”

“But we want to see whales swimming,” Benny said before he could catch himself, “not just read about them.”

Miss Coffin stood up and walked to the front door. “Then I can’t be of any further help to you. Now I’ll have to ask you to leave. I’ve a busload of tourists—adults—coming this afternoon, and I need to get the museum ready. I think I’ll need that book back, Miss. It turns out I don’t have enough copies after all.”

Violet handed back the little book about Gabby. “Here. I guess we’ll go now,” she said to Miss Coffin. “Thank you very much for the tour. Can we come back again to look at the whale books you mentioned?”

Miss Coffin wouldn’t look at Violet or the other Aldens. “I’ll be too busy. There are several tours I have to organize this week. I can’t say for sure what the museum hours will be for the next few days.”

With that, Miss Coffin led the children to the front door and let them out.

“Do you think Miss Coffin is worried that whale watching trips harm the whales?” Jessie asked Henry. “She got so upset when we said we wanted to go on one of Captain Bob’s trips.”

Henry was just as puzzled as the other children. “The boat rides don’t get close enough to disturb the whales.”

Benny was the most upset of all. “Is . . . is the Jonah safe, Henry?” he asked.

“I’m sure it is,” Henry said. “Mr. Pease told Grandfather that Captain Bob was in the Coast Guard and knows everything there is to know about boats. And whales, too. Miss Coffin just doesn’t like Captain Bob because he’s related to Eli Hull.”
 


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 quaint 7tqy2     
adj.古雅的,离奇有趣的,奇怪的
参考例句:
  • There were many small lanes in the quaint village.在这古香古色的村庄里,有很多小巷。
  • They still keep some quaint old customs.他们仍然保留着一些稀奇古怪的旧风俗。
2 ragged KC0y8     
adj.衣衫褴褛的,粗糙的,刺耳的
参考例句:
  • A ragged shout went up from the small crowd.这一小群人发出了刺耳的喊叫。
  • Ragged clothing infers poverty.破衣烂衫意味着贫穷。
3 cove 9Y8zA     
n.小海湾,小峡谷
参考例句:
  • The shore line is wooded,olive-green,a pristine cove.岸边一带林木蓊郁,嫩绿一片,好一个山外的小海湾。
  • I saw two children were playing in a cove.我看到两个小孩正在一个小海湾里玩耍。
4 brass DWbzI     
n.黄铜;黄铜器,铜管乐器
参考例句:
  • Many of the workers play in the factory's brass band.许多工人都在工厂铜管乐队中演奏。
  • Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc.黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。
5 peeked c7b2fdc08abef3a4f4992d9023ed9bb8     
v.很快地看( peek的过去式和过去分词 );偷看;窥视;微露出
参考例句:
  • She peeked over the top of her menu. 她从菜单上往外偷看。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • On two occasions she had peeked at him through a crack in the wall. 她曾两次透过墙缝窥视他。 来自辞典例句
6 standing 2hCzgo     
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
参考例句:
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
7 pointed Il8zB4     
adj.尖的,直截了当的
参考例句:
  • He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
  • She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。
8 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
9 coffin XWRy7     
n.棺材,灵柩
参考例句:
  • When one's coffin is covered,all discussion about him can be settled.盖棺论定。
  • The coffin was placed in the grave.那口棺材已安放到坟墓里去了。
10 wreck QMjzE     
n.失事,遇难;沉船;vt.(船等)失事,遇难
参考例句:
  • Weather may have been a factor in the wreck.天气可能是造成这次失事的原因之一。
  • No one can wreck the friendship between us.没有人能够破坏我们之间的友谊。
11 stiffened de9de455736b69d3f33bb134bba74f63     
加强的
参考例句:
  • He leaned towards her and she stiffened at this invasion of her personal space. 他向她俯过身去,这种侵犯她个人空间的举动让她绷紧了身子。
  • She stiffened with fear. 她吓呆了。
12 hull 8c8xO     
n.船身;(果、实等的)外壳;vt.去(谷物等)壳
参考例句:
  • The outer surface of ship's hull is very hard.船体的外表面非常坚硬。
  • The boat's hull has been staved in by the tremendous seas.小船壳让巨浪打穿了。
13 carving 5wezxw     
n.雕刻品,雕花
参考例句:
  • All the furniture in the room had much carving.房间里所有的家具上都有许多雕刻。
  • He acquired the craft of wood carving in his native town.他在老家学会了木雕手艺。
14 carvings 3ccde9120da2aaa238c9785046cb8f86     
n.雕刻( carving的名词复数 );雕刻术;雕刻品;雕刻物
参考例句:
  • The desk was ornamented with many carvings. 这桌子装饰有很多雕刻物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Shell carvings are a specialty of the town. 贝雕是该城的特产。 来自《简明英汉词典》
15 perked 6257cbe5d4a830c7288630659113146b     
(使)活跃( perk的过去式和过去分词 ); (使)增值; 使更有趣
参考例句:
  • The recent demand for houses has perked up the prices. 最近对住房的需求使房价上涨了。
  • You've perked up since this morning. 你今天上午精神就好多了。
16 shrieking abc59c5a22d7db02751db32b27b25dbb     
v.尖叫( shriek的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • The boxers were goaded on by the shrieking crowd. 拳击运动员听见观众的喊叫就来劲儿了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • They were all shrieking with laughter. 他们都发出了尖锐的笑声。 来自《简明英汉词典》
17 gadgets 7239f3f3f78d7b7d8bbb906e62f300b4     
n.小机械,小器具( gadget的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Certainly. The idea is not to have a house full of gadgets. 当然。设想是房屋不再充满小配件。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
  • This meant more gadgets and more experiments. 这意味着要设计出更多的装置,做更多的实验。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史
18 seasick seasick     
adj.晕船的
参考例句:
  • When I get seasick,I throw up my food.我一晕船就呕吐。
  • He got seasick during the voyage.在航行中他晕船。
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